Heritage Conservation: Ahmedabad Model

Ahmedabad is situated at the heart of Gujarat. The city is deeply rooted in tradition. Ahmedabad is now recognised as the world heritage city by UNESCO. The considerable effort made by the city municipal corporation to preserve, maintain and promote its heritage resources has made a significant contribution in getting the recognition from UNESCO.

Rich Heritage of Ahmedabad:

• Ahmedabad is the largest city of Gujarat. It was founded by Ahmad Shah in 1411 AD on the ancient sites of Ashaval and Karanavati.
• During its 600 years of continuous occupation, the city of Ahmedabad was under the rule of four major regimes which include sultanate of Gujarat, Mughal, Maratha, and British.
• As a result, the city is a witness to an amalgamation of various cultures. There is a rich mix of Hindu, Islamic and European architecture in the city of Ahmedabad.
• Being a walled city, Ahmedabad is enclosed by 12 gates.
• Ahmedabad houses a large number of temples, mosques and other pilgrim spots.
• Sahajanand Swami established the Swaminarayan temple in Kalupur, located at the heart of the city.
• Kite festival during Navratri is celebrated with great joy and fervor.
• Rathyatra of Jagannath temple is another feather in the cap of the cities rich heritage.
• Sabarmati Ashram the gift of Gandhiji to the nation is the pride of the city.

Conservation model of Ahmedabad:

The cultural wealth which was the hallmark of the city received a setback in the post-independence era. Economic challenges coupled with ill-thought expansion led to the pulling down of historical structures to facilitate expansion and access to modern amenities.

But today with its conservation efforts Ahmedabad has set an example for other Indian cities. The saga of conservation efforts undertaken by the city of Ahmedabad is highlighted below:

• The study undertaken by Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) along with America’s Ford Foundation in 1984 set the stone rolling for conserving the rich heritage of the city.
• In 1994 the AMC set up the heritage cell in association with Conservation and Research of Urban Traditional Architecture. With this Ahmedabad became the first Indian local body to have a dedicated heritage cell.
• The heritage cell prepared a comprehensive plan to revitalise the walled city.
• In 2001, AMC in association with French government initiated the process of documenting 12,000 historic structures.
• AMC collaborated with Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited (HUDCO) to undertake a public-private partnership project to enable preservation of historic sites.
• To preserve the charter of the selected area AMC issued guidelines which prohibited any historic house from being pulled down without prior permission from the heritage cell.
• Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority initiated a transfer of development rights (TDR) policy in 2013. Under this initiative owners of heritage properties could sell, transfer or lease out additional floor space index to developers in the form of TDR that can be utilised anywhere in the city. The funds generated from the selling of TDR were used towards conservation efforts.
• Initiatives like heritage walk, street theatre, and heritage awards encouraged community participation and support towards the efforts of the city authorities. This inclusive approach further strengthened solidarity among people for the cause of culture and heritage.
• A number of heritage buildings were converted into heritage homestays thus attracting tourism and revenue for the area.

This success story of Ahmedabad in promoting its urban fabric by preserving its rich heritage has set an example on how local bodies can play an important role in establishing, preserving, promoting the rich culture and heritage of the cities. Even the Supreme Court had asked Agra civic body officials to learn from the example of Ahmedabad in preserving the rich heritage of the city.